Animazement Art

This post is going to be my last post about Animazement this year. I promise.

This post is dedicated to the awesome art I picked up in Animazement's Artist Alley this year.

The first artist: I don't have a name for her. She had no cards. She said she didn't have a website. I got the impression she was a first time artist. If anyone knows anything about her, let me know so I can link proper credit. Anyways, the first print is of Saber Lily from one of the Fate games. No idea which one. I'd never seen any of the series or played any of the games when I saw the print. I loved the character design though. It's the kind of thing I'd love to cosplay. Anyways. Second print is from Sword Art Online. I loved the last story arc for the 2nd season, and I love that I found art that did not over-sexualize Asuna. I love the series, but have been less than happy with most of the fanart I see for it in the AA. I'm sure the sexy Asuna probably sells better, but it's not my cup of tea. I thought this picture was super cute. Moving on. Third print I got from this artist was from Love Live. I watched Love Live during a really depressing period I was going through last fall, and I fell in love with the series. I loved all the different costume designs, and I would love to cosplay from this series one day. It's the kind of thing though where I don't want to do it by myself--it'd be so much more fun to cosplay with a group.

The second artist: ShavoStars. I loved this artist's Last Unicorn art. I got her unicorn version for a friend for his birthday, and got the Amalthia version for myself. Love it. So much nostalgia. Last Unicorn is one of my favorite childhood things. Right next to Labyrinth and Princess Bride. Would also love to cosplay Amalthia.

The third artist I got things from was NoFlutter. I've always loved her stuff. So, I know I complained about sexy art above, but this is a kind of stylistic sexy that I really like. I've been a fan of NoFlutter's art for a while, and I was super pleased to see her at Animazement. Anyways, I picked up a group pic of the Inner Senshi in Amazon-style Warrior designs, I'm assuming inspired by Wonder Woman. The other print I got from her was a steampunk style Wonder Woman. Both of these designs were amazing, in my opinion. I would love to cosplay them. (Do we see a theme here).

Now I just need to get these lovelies hung up in my craft room. =D

The New Normal

For my last post, I talked about getting back to normal and how I have come to the conclusion that I don't think there will ever be a normal like the normal I want to get back to. That said, I think there's going to be some good stuff coming from 2013.

I've had to come to terms with the high probability that I won't see everything I'd love to see done finished in 2013 (or even 2014 or 2015). So, you might ask: what exactly do we expect to see from 2013 (realistically). Well, my husband and I started the year off by listing all the projects (or in some cases types of projects) we wanted to spend our year working on. We narrowed the list down to five things--actually it was only supposed to be three, but I made the argument that one project was going to be just my husband's (even though it really isn't) and I added another as an afterthought because I forgot to put it on the original list, so that one sneaked in through the back door so to speak. =P Yeah, I think we can see a little bit of my ADD personality mixed with my inability to commit to getting one thing done at a time.

Here's what's on our list, at least to start with. First up is the Anime RPG book (and other Team Sidequest, the game company, related stuff like that new card game we had at Magfest). There is some art I really really want to redo. Plus we're editing and making some adjustments based on feedback we have received since the book's initial release. I am looking for some print-on-demand options, but aside from that we won't be releasing the book in print again. We are looking at getting the book released digitally in a variety of ebook formats. This is the project that's supposed to be just my husband's. =P

Next up, we are planning on making extensive use of our new buttonmaker (you can find our current design selection in the button section on the gallery page of my website). For me buttons are going to be my outlet for drawing for all of my favorite things in epic quantities (like Full Metal Alchemist). At the top of my drawing list right now is Code Geass and My Little Pony. Those will be followed by lots and lots of Final Fantasy (I, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, and XIII to start with XD). There will also be lots of FMA. I am planning a giant marathon session where I will draw pretty much anyone and everyone from that series. XD I'm only a little obsessed with it. There will be others, but that's where I'm starting (that's probably more than enough to start with). Some of these designs will go to bookmark or postcard-size print instead of as a button, but most will be buttons.

After buttons, we have cosplay. We made cosplay it's on section and although I have a blue-zillion plans and ideas, we've settled on Halo as the one project we're actually going to try and finish first. Team Sidequest (our D&D/cosplay/game/whatever else group) is planning on going to Animazement with a lot of helmets from the Halo armor costumes. These will eventually be followed by the full suits of armor and we will be cosplaying from Red vs. Blue, which I should probably sit down and watch at some point. XD The Halo cosplay project will be followed by finishing the Mare Do Well cosplay I wanted to make for Halloween. There will be more...much more...but this is a start.

The fourth project choice (my third *cough*) is still waffling. I want to make some more movie poster parodies along the lines of The Dark Mare Rises print. I have ideas for a Hobbit/Bioshock cross and Full Metal Alchemist/Avengers cross. On the other hand, I also have lots of ideas for drawing ponies...lots and lots of ponies...lots and lots of things that should not be drawn as ponies but I really really want to draw as ponies. XD This might be one of those things I go back and forth on for a little bit.

The final project thing I'll be working on is a list of gifts and personal projects. I have several baby blankets to make for friends (ideally to be finished while their kids are still babies =P). I also have some things I want to make for the house and for Sophie and stuff like that, so yeah.

Anyways, that's what we're going to be working on to start with. There's of course lots of other things I want to work on. I can't do it all though, so some of it will have to wait. =P

Hunger Games Before Dinner

 Last fall I noticed a lot of people I follow on Twitter discussing a book called The Hunger Games. I looked it up, and based off of the plot synopsis on the back of the book, it really didn't sound like something I'd enjoy. The first thing that came to mind after reading the description was Battle Royale, a Japanese movie about a bunch of school kids forced to fight each other to the death in an arena. The Japanese movie is violent and not really my kind of thing. However, my mom had a copy of the trilogy, and while staying with her, I picked the book up one weekend. I wasn't all that interested in reading it, but 1) I wanted something to read and The Hunger Games was available and 2) a lot of people whose opinions I generally respect had recommended it. Just before the movie was released I heard news groups calling The Hunger Games the next Twilight. To be honest, if I'd heard that before reading the book, I would never have touched The Hunger Games.

But that didn't happen, and I read the book. I finished it over the course of one day. It goes without saying that I enjoyed the book. I liked the story and many of the elements of the setting in the Hunger Games. The characters were okay. Katniss I could honestly leave; she came across as kind of dull to me. I liked Peeta; I did not like Gale, and I was very happy that Peeta did not die as my husband and I both expected him to by the end of the first book, although under the circumstances, I felt it was almost more cruel to leave Peeta alive at the end, but I'm digressing. I'm not intending this post to be a review of the story. My absolute favorite character in the books was Cinna--I have a thing for stories with costume designers as prominent characters; I liked Edna and the Incredibles for much the same reason.

Spoiler Alert

I mentioned in my Blue Exorcist review that characters I specifically identify with or grow particularly attached to die. There are very few exceptions to this. True to the trend, Cinna dies--not in The Hunger Games, but the second book in the trilogy. They did leave it kind of open-ended, and I held out hope that he might make a miraculous reappearance by the end of the third book. Sadly, I was disappointed there. After Cinna died, I became attached to Finnick... he also died. >_< Anyways, I liked Cinna's character so much that I wanted to do a tribute of a kind to him and his work--at least that's the best way I can think of putting it... Can you even offer a tribute to a fictional character since it's not really the character's work, but the author's? XD

Spoiler Over

Whatever the case, I digress. I have decided to create a series of drawings based around the costumes Cinna designed for Katniss. Each design will, of course, be based off of my interpretation of the author's description of the costume, hair style, and make-up (as much as I ever include make-up in any of my pictures XD). For the three designs from The Hunger Games, what I imagined was very different from the designs used in the film. I am glad it worked out this way; I love seeing other artists' interpretations of things I've read. To me, this is one of the best aspects of drawing from literature. There is a lot more room for artistic freedom, and I'm always fascinated by how multiple artists can take the same page of text and come up with such vastly different results.

The first costume I drew was the one Cinna created for Katniss to wear for her debut at the Capitol. The book described her as wearing a plain black bodysuit with heavy black boots. Her hair was pulled back in a single braid and she wore little to no make-up--Cinna did this so that the Capitol audience would recognize her in the arena and connect her with her eye-catching entrance. She also wore a "fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow, and red and [a] matching headpiece" (The Hunger Games, chapter 5). I thought it would be cool to draw not just a cape with streams of color on it, but to make it streamers of red, orange, and yellow. These were of course set on fire once she was on the chariot. Personally, I think the streamers would have been extra dazzling once the chariot started moving; they'd certainly flutter a lot more than a cape, which would be considerably heavier. I had a lot of fun with this design--Photoshop hated me for it, but I definitely enjoyed working on it. =) I am really happy with how the flames on the streamers came out.

The second costume I tackled was the dress Katniss wore to her interview with Caesar Flickerman. The dress was long, but not so long that she would trip over the hem. She wore heeled shoes that weren't too high. She wore a fair amount of make up and her team drew swirling flame patterns in gold on her skin (I did add this to the picture although it doesn't show up very well). Her hair was braided from her left side across her head then down to hang over her shoulder with red ribbon braided in with the hair. Also, the book adds, "my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design." (The Hunger Games) It also gave the impression of being on fire when she would twirl around. I gave the dress an uneven hem because that would keep it long and flowy while not being too long, and I thought it would highlight the flame theme. There is a very subtle flame pattern worked into the dress. I also tried to give the effect that the entire dress was literally covered in gems. I am especially pleased with that aspect of the picture.

If you can't tell, I'm drawing these basically in the order they appear in the books. The third is going to be the dress she wears for her second interview with Caesar Flickerman after winning the games. I have started coloring this design. The fourth will be her chariot costume for the Quarter Quell. Fifth will be her wedding dress turned mocking jay from her third interview with Caesar Flickerman. Sixth will be the Mockingjay uniform she wears in book three. I may draw her wedding dress before it becomes mockingjay-ized as a seventh design. I am also playing with the idea of drawing Finnick. Those last two may or may not happen. I hope you guys enjoy these designs as much as I am enjoying making them. (Btw, the "before dinner" was because I was supposed to finish writing this blog before dinner... I didn't quite make it though, but I kind of like the title, so I'm not going to change it. XD)

Fall Projects

Back at the end of June, I posted a Summer Projects post highlighting what I planned on working on over the summer. I thought, since we're moving into Fall now, it would be a good idea to revisit that post. Today, I'm going to look over what I'd planned to get done, what I actually got done, and discuss a little of my plans for the Fall.

First, let's look at what I'd planned. I wanted to have the new Zodiac set finished for art. This Zodiac set was going to be the compliment to the one I finished for Anime Weekend Atlanta last year. The first set featured six guys and six girls, and the second set was going to do girl versions for the six guys and guy versions for the six girls. My goal was to have the new Zodiac prints and their chibi badge counterparts finished by Otakon. I also wanted to stock up on my inventory of fanart plushie designs for Otakon: Pikachu, Umbreon, Kirby, Black Mokona, White Mokona, and Moogle. Along with those I wanted to make some bunny and kitty mini-plushies.

Now, let's see how things actually went. Getting the Zodiacs finished by Otakon did not happen. In fact, the only progress made before Otakon was taking the Aries sketch featured on the Summer Projects post and inking it. In my defense, we lost most of July to moving. Most of August was taken up with commission projects and family events, and it's only been in the last week or so that I've really been able to get back on track with things. So, Zodiacs... fell far short of my goal. I did manage to get a decent number of plushies made before Otakon. I boosted my fanart inventory and had three each of the bunny and kitty mini-plushies. So, plushies... goal achieved!

So, what's on for the Fall? The short answer: lots of cool stuff! For art, I will finally have Anime Tarot card decks (these are now available for preorder from my Etsy shop) for Anime Weekend Atlanta and Anime USA. I am going to keep working on the Zodiacs. My new goal is to get them finished by AWA; it'll be tough, but I think it's doable. Last year, I made my set of Sailor Moon Harem bookmarks because they were asking artists to put together something to match the convention theme: Arabian Nights. This year's theme is military, so I'm going to be doing a new set of Sailor Moon bookmarks, this time with a mecha pilot design. I'm thinking about making it a yearly thing to design a new set of Sailor Moon bookmarks for AUSA to go with their theme. Sailor Moon is just so much fun to play with; the characters really lend themselves to this kind of re-designing. That's my minimum goal. I'd also like to see some of my other in-progress bookmark sets (World of Warcraft, The Guild, and Dragonlance) get finished by AUSA--AWA is later this month, so I think I'll be doing well to get the Zodiacs done for that. Outside of that, Soul Eater and Full Metal Alchemist are high on my list of series I want to do massive bookmark sets for, but those might have to be a project for next season.

That covers art. For plushies, I'd had it in my head that I might be able to do some more new plushie designs, but I think I'll be doing good to just restock my inventory again since I sold out of pretty much everything at Otakon--not that I'm complaining. ;-) I think I'll play this one by ear. I'd like to work on some new designs, but I'm not going to get too excited about that idea. For other crafts, we're still hoping to debut the decorative props for AWA and I'm going to finish up the last of the charm designs plus replace those that sold at Otakon. Maybe by AWA I'll have a good way of displaying my charms. Finally, I'm still trying to get Suzaku and Euphemia cosplays finished for AWA for my husband and I. It's a low priority item, but I'm still holding out some hope that I can get those finished.

That about sums up my plans for the Fall. Chances are, it's entirely unreasonable, but it'll be interesting to see how things go. Look for a Winter follow-up to this post in early December.

Summer Projects

Wednesday I posted a preview of all the fun ideas I've got floating around in my head for art and plushies. If anyone didn't read it, I would appreciate it if you would. I've got so many projects and sets I want to work on; I would love some feedback on anything that looks interesting to you--when it boils down to it, I draw what I like, but I'm always open to suggestions, recommendations or direction from others. So, anyways, onto today's topic. After the really crazy "list" from Wednesday, I thought I'd highlight what projects I'm actually planning on working on for the rest of June and July.

WIP photo of the new Aries

First up is the new Zodiacs. The new set will match the current set of Western Zodiacs.`What I'm going to be doing is drawing the companion character for the one I've already drawn. For example, yesterday I drew the new Aries; this one is a girl version designed to complement the guy version I drew with the first set. She'll have the same background, a similar color scheme, and some elements from the first version since they are supposed to be connected. I'll also be drawing chibi versions of these new Zodiacs for badges, just like I did for the first set. ^_^ I'm drawing the the new Zodiac set for a couple of reasons. For one, it's fun to design the characters for them. For another, some of the designs are going to appeal more to girls or guys, but not both--clear examples are Virgo and Leo for girls and Scorpio for guys. I always felt kind of bad for the guy Leos and Virgos that came up and were a little crestfallen that I'd drawn them as very feminine girls. So, this new set is partly to offer alternatives for those guys that don't want to be a southern belle (not that I blame them there). =P Anyways, this is what I will be drawing for the next few weeks--I'm hoping I'll get all 12 of the new Zodiacs finished along with their chibi counterparts by Otakon in late July, but that might be a bit optimistic. I think I can definitely get them done by Anime Weekend Atlanta--the end of September.

Since I'm a chronic multi-tasker (for better or for worse), I like having multiple projects going at the same time, so I'm also working on some crochet plushies. Since I'm getting ready for a bunch of conventions over the next couple of months, I'm working on building up my inventory of the plushie designs I've already finished: Pikachu, Umbreon, Kirby, Black Mokona, White Mokona, and Moogle. Although there are a lot of new designs I'd love to tackle, I'm trying to stay focused and keep things simple. (Yeah right... nothing's ever simple in my life). I'm making mini-amigurumi bunnies and kitties right now--why? Because I like cats, and I got the bunny idea from the Umbreons I made--I was thinking how cute it would be to have a bunny plushie since when I get the eyes and ears on (before the legs and tail and rings), it looks kind of like a bunny. I've been enjoying the chance to work with different colors of yarn that I don't really get to do with the fanart plushies. I've finished a "Peppermint Swirl" color theme, and I'm working on a pretty yellow right now. I think I'm going to give the yellow bunny blue eyes and the yellow kitty green eyes. =)

Mini-Bunnies and Mini-Kitties--the body for each is about 2" in diameter.

Wednesday WIP - May I

I've been wondering over the last couple of weeks if I really wanted to keep posting WIP updates every week. I'm not sure whether people read them or are really interested in what I post on them, but I have decided to keep posting them. It turns out, these posts have been very good for me, especially with longer running projects where sometimes it's hard to see that I really am making progress on things and it's really easy to get bogged down in everything. So, on to this week's update:

Beholder: This one is finished. I barely got it done in time for the Mom's Basement contest deadline. It won the contest! =D I'm very excited about that. The finished beholder can be viewed on DeviantArt.

Anime Art Girl: This one is also finished. You can see it here.

Blanket: I'm up to 12 green hexagons finished--only 2 since last week. This project is going to move pretty slow probably because most of this month is going to be spent on art and costumes in preparation for Animazement.


Mai and Zuko: Mai is now mostly finished. I still need to do something for her shoes. I ordered a wig, which will hopefully be here soon. My husband will be cosplaying Zuko. As can be seen in the photo, I've started his costume. The red undershirt is finished. His pants are mostly finished, but they're a real pain to get on his dress form. The tunic honestly looks better than in the picture. It's only knee length, even if it looks longer in the picture--we have trouble with his dress form staying at the appropriate height; it keeps wanting to slide down. I also still need to sew the sides up and add the gold decoration on the front. It'll look a lot better when that part is done; right now, it kind of looks like a brown blob. XD

Props: This is going to get a different spot for right now, since this is more my husband's project at the moment. He is making the butterfly swords that Zuko uses in the 3rd season, plus he's going to make a couple of Mai's throwing knives for me. =D I put the patterns down for the picture because it's a little hard to see the pencil markings on the wood.